A journey to welcome 2008...

As the chugging train came to a halt, I could hear the porters voice, "Happy New Year, luggage etthlikke jana beka, Sir?"... English speaking porters! Welcome to Bangalore, the IT capital..

With this, my year end-eve trip to Solapur and Shimoga came to an end.

The year 2007 had been a roller coaster ride, with visit to as many places, in as many months. I also moved from Manipal to Bangalore for my Internship. So to end the year in a journey spirit, planned a quick trip to Solapur.

First leg of the tour started off with a train journey to Shimoga, to attend my best friend Pradeep(N)'s (28th Dec 2007) marriage. The midnight train from Bangalore to Shimoga(Shimoga Express, Off B'lore 11:40pm Shimoga 6:15am), passed off in good sleep. Woke up to a chilly morning in Shimoga. With relatives in all the places, stay was planned in my brothers in-laws place. The whole day passed attending the marriage. I could not imagine we were together from the day, when we used to steal mangos from MGM ground till his marriage. After lunch, bid farewell to friend and I'm off to the next part of the journey.

MalenaDa Mussanjeyali: Caught the KSRTC Karnataka Sarige bus to Bijapur (Sakleshpura-Bijapur 6:45pm Off Shimoga-Honnali-Harihara-Hospet-Bijapur). The bus was speeding, as if, it is competition to overtake the evening setting SUN. The route was comparatively good. After the evening dinner in a roadside Daba, the journey was passed counting stars and looking at the night moon. Soon, sleep overcomes everything.

Finally reached Bijapur at 5:30am, a new full fledged KSRTC Bus Stand (even Udupi doesn't have one). The first bus to Solapur (Mangalore-Sholapur KSRTC), left very soon. The bus was running, piercing the morning chilly weather. In two hours, reached Solapur(29th Dec 2007), where Murali uncle was waiting for my arrival.

The following three days passed like anything. The highlight of the three days is obviously the delicious foods that were relentlessly prepared by Shobha aunt. So many different types of Rotis, curries and sweets that were beyond my counts. The evenings were reserved for visits to Uncles Dawakhana, relatives and other places with Pacchu. Night were again reserved for movies, after dinner with Sudeep. Watched Taare Zameen Par, Welcome, Superman, X-Men 3 The Last Stand.

The last day of 2007: The year which sent me back Bangalore, the year started with Semester exam!! the year that is very close to my heart, the year which made many people close to me, the year which saw me on top of Kumara Parvatha, The year that made me win interviews, the year which saw the arrival of a new member to our family, the year in which my dad celebrated his 60th birthday (Shashti Poorthi) with full family, the year which made my entire family NRI!! The year which saw my sister buy a house in US. To sum it all, the memorable moment of 2007 will be Vismay, my nephew.

(31th Dec 2007) With the clock ticking to 12:00 I was standing on the railway platform with Pacchu to board the Karnataka Express at 00:10am, how memorable it was to welcome New Year on a railway platform!! The train arrived 15 mins late. Bidding farewell to Pacchu, I was back to my upper berth seat, which will take me to my Karmabhumi (B'lore). Reached Bangalore next day 1:30 in afternoon.

At end, I would like to quote a sanna kavana from my friend Girish Shetty,

ಕಣ್ಣಂಚಿನಲೆ ಕೊಂದಳು ಹುಡುಗಿ ಕುಡಿ ನೋಟದ ಬಾಣವ ನನ್ನೆದೆಗೆ ಎಸೆದು

ಮತ್ತೆ ಜೀವ ಬರಿಸಿದಳು ಬೆಡಗಿ ತುಟಿಯಂಚಿನ ನಗುವಿನಮೃತವ ಎರೆದು